Yes,
that is Mark Twain sitting on his porch. No, he is not a relative, but
definitely a favorite author of mine. You often see on Facebook and other sites
about how it would be nice to go back to simpler times. I started thinking
about that and made me wonder if it was all that simple. Our country has been
through so much from the very beginning to this very day. But I wasn’t thinking
so much about the major issues of our current times or earlier days. There
isn't anything simple about that!
I
was thinking more in terms of how today you can literally never leave your home
and buy your clothes, food, appliances, and even a car. You don’t even have to
hold a print book in your hands to read. Just click on a link on your I-pad or
phone, the book is there in seconds, and your fingers flip each page, or you
can let someone read it to you. You can tell Alexa to turn on your lights or
heat up/cool down your home. And I won't even get into how much entertainment
is available, again at your fingertips or remote.
Now
I know you know, even if you didn’t live through the olden days, how there were
only three TV channels, you had to get up and walk over to the TV to change the
channel, so there was no such thing as channel surfing. You had to actually
watch the commercials (or go get a snack). The milk was delivered to your door,
and skim milk looked more like blue milk! The bakery man came to the house
every Saturday. The insurance man also came to the house when a policy needed
updated or renewing, and I can assure you he did not look like Jake from State
Farm.
So
it would seem as if today is much simpler than decades ago. But it really isn't,
is it? We are overwhelmed with information, sometimes I think too much of it. I
miss reading the funnies in the Sunday morning newspaper. I miss that bakery
man. I miss my brother yelling at me to change the channel on the TV.
Well—maybe I don’t miss that so much. What I miss the most is sitting on the
front porch at my grandma’s house. In the summer, after dinner and the dishes
washed and put away, by hand, not a dishwasher, we would go out to the front
porch with my grandpa and my Aunt Vera. Most of today’s homes don’t even have a
front porch. Most have decks or patios in the backyard. I miss the front porch,
because there you could watch the traffic go by, wave to your neighbors, maybe
even chat for a few minutes.
I suppose it all depends on how you define simple. Life was simpler back then, but it was also harder. Today, things are not so simple, but life is easier. I'm not talking about the stresses of life. Of course, there are over-the-top stresses in today’s world, especially with 2020!
Maybe it’s just a matter of getting
back to that front porch.
As always, thanks for stopping by. Keep reading, keep writing, and take some time to enjoy your day.
